World Theater Day: When ‘Art’ becomes ubiquitous

As famous Austrian symbolist painter Gustav Klimt puts it, "Art is a line around your thoughts," Open Space Theatre's latest rendition of famous French playwright Yasmina Reza's "Art" does just that. Keeping aside all the contradictions, arguments, and interpretations of what art should be or interpreted as, M Arifur Rahman's adaptation of "Art" was sharp, witty and clever.

In Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy's Experimental Hall, Open Space Theatre cleverly designed an arena and adapted a screenplay that engages the audience and makes them feel included as silent characters in the play on the eve of World Theatre Day (March 27, 2023).

The play begins with a heartfelt monologue by Marc, brilliantly played by M Arifur Rahman, who admits his disgust against his divorced doctor friend, Serge, played by Ritwik Mahbub, who recently bought an abstract painting with a hefty amount of Tk 20,00,000. To Marc, the painting is nothing more than a white canvas and outraged by Serge's decision, he involves their mutual friend, Yvan (exceptionally portrayed by Tahmid Suprav), a stationary salesman, to bring some sense into his best friend, Serge.

In this modern satirical play, Serge and Marc's disagreement does not only indicate the conflict between the contemporary or classical perspectives of art but their differing views on friendship. The seemingly caring Marc –who is outraged with his consideration of the painting being Serge's biggest financial burden– becomes humane and tells Serge that his outburst is not only related to the painting, but the change in the dimension, and Serge's outlook toward his friends, indeed.

Yasmina Reza's screenplay and Open Space Theatre's adaptation continue with brisk intelligence and wit. The audience remained faithful, engaged, enthralled and deliberate in their interpretation of the play. All three actors were successful in interacting with the observers, and they got what they needed most as creative fuel, their (audience's) blissful attention and euphoria.

"Our interpretation of Yasmina's 'Art'is very simple. It is not about the painting or its corporeal meaning, value, or philosophies on which the three characters base their conflicts on. It is about their friendship and the simplicity of human interaction," says M Arifur Rahman, says the director of the play.

The set was intentionally designed minimalistic, unlike Open Space Theatre's previous productions, "And there were none" and "Arsenic and Old lace," and it fared well on both ends. The costume design was on point. The satirical references used in the play, such as 'deconstruction,' 'stoic philosopher Seneca' etc., enhanced the nuance of the play.

However, the most intriguing part was perhaps the chemistry among the three friends.

Arifur is perfectly cast as a man with a smirk in his voice, Tahmid Suprav's hapless Yvan, as a confused and sheepdog of a man, is brilliant. However, Yvan might have faced a subdued bias against him, perhaps. Somehow, as an audience, I felt as though the character was predisposed to this ludacrity without any scope of self-discovery.

Moreover, Ritwik Mahbub, who portrayed Serge, was a bit slow to catch the tone of the other two in the first half of the show, but when he did, the play reached perfection. Ritwik gives justice to Serge's character, a man who prides himself on his taste and entity yet is capable of extraordinary emotional cruelty.

"Audiences who have seen all our productions to date have proclaimed 'ART' to be our best production yet! It's a must-watch for everyone," said Mahjabeen Chowdhury, founder and CEO of Open Space Theatre.

The play was open for theatre enthusiasts on World Theatre Day, and it was successful in celebrating this auspicious day in the purest way possible, encapsulating audiences with its offering, "Art".